by Odessa Lynne
“The drugs can make it difficult to trace the scent of a mate.”
“He wasn’t looking for a mate. He was looking for somebody to fuck. He found somebody. Me. And I—” He choked off his words, pressing his lips together tightly. Why the fuck had he let himself get so close to spilling his darkest moment to Five? Some things just didn’t need to be shared.
“He would not have settled for just any mate, any more than I have. You were obviously not the mate he wanted, or he would have claimed you despite your brother’s interference.”
“You don’t know that.” Mason let go of his wrist. “Do you even know my fucking name? Because you sure the fuck haven’t once asked me what it is. You think I haven’t noticed that? You don’t know one goddamned thing about me that matters.”
“I know three things about you that matter, Mason Waters. I know you’re no longer with the renegades and haven’t been for nearly three years. I know you risked your life to come to the aid of your brother. And I know you harbor a deep regret for something that happened three years ago, although I don’t yet understand why.”
Before Mason could respond, Five turned his head a fraction of an inch to the left.
“Aaron is here.”
Mason nodded. He wasn’t about to start or continue an argument in front of that kid. He remembered Aaron slashing his claws through the air. That kid was dangerous—more dangerous than Mason, for damn sure. He let out a hard little laugh and got a raised eyebrow from Five.
“You’d’ve had to be here,” Mason said.
At that moment, Aaron walked into view through the open door carrying a large tray and Five turned away.
Mason watched as Aaron brought the tray into the room and set it on the table. Glasses clinked against the edge of the platter and just the sight of the thinly sliced meat and warm vegetables made Mason’s stomach growl.
He swallowed, throat bobbing, mouth watering. This wasn’t the first time he’d gone without food, but it might have been the longest. “God, I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten in a day and a half.”
“Sit, then. We’ll eat and I’ll teach you more of our mating customs.”
Great. Mason side-eyed Five for another moment before dragging the chair out from under the table. At the loud scrape and bang of wood hitting wood, he winced.
The edge of Five’s mouth twitched but he didn’t say anything.
Aaron was watching avidly from the side of the table but he was staying out of the way.
Mason sat and stretched his arm out on the table, fingers only inches from the platter of appetizing food. His stomach felt like it was going to growl its way right out of him if he didn’t get something in it soon, but he wasn’t sure enough of what was expected of him to dive in before Five joined him at the table.
He managed to tear his gaze away from the food in time to see Five ruffle his fingers through the hair at the back of Aaron’s neck and murmur something to him in the wolves’ language, too indistinct for Mason to catch.
Aaron left the room, closing the door behind him.
Mason was still watching the door when Five repositioned the other chair only a few feet away from Mason. Mason kept sliding the edge of his thumb against the smooth wood, but as soon as he realized what he was doing, he stilled his nervous twiddling.
Five sat and his long leg pressed warmly against Mason’s own. A memory of the night before rushed to the forefront of Mason’s thoughts. Five had strong thighs, thick with muscle and covered in dark hair, and Mason knew exactly how they felt between his own.
His breath stuttered and he sat there silently, eyes locked again on the tray of food.
He could have moved his leg, just an inch forward or back, and the connection would have been broken.
He didn’t. He should have, but he didn’t.
“You must be very hungry. You haven’t taken your eyes off that tray since it came into the room.”
Mason cleared his throat. “You could say that.”
“Could I? What else could I say?” Asked in a curious and mild tone that immediately made Mason wary.
“You could say why there’s no silverware, no plates, and three glasses. Are we waiting on someone else to bring them and share the food?”
The sliced meat was piled high beside a mountain of vegetables and bread, more than enough for two people.
“No.”
When Five didn’t elaborate, Mason said, “Just wondering what it all means.”
“Look at me.” The words were quiet and softly spoken, but Mason didn’t doubt they were an order to be obeyed.
He finally glanced up.
Five set one of the glasses in front of Mason, the low clunk of glass hitting wood a hollow echo. “This is water. Drink all you want.”
Five set one of the glasses in front of himself. “As is this.”
He set the third glass near the first in front of Mason. “This is not.”
All Mason could do was ask the obvious question. “What is it?”
Five trailed his finger along the clear rim of the glass, while the sunlight streaming through the window sparkled on the surface of the clear liquid in a rainbow of color. “It is a gift. Something few humans will ever experience. A taste of my world.”
Chapter 16
Mason stared warily at that third glass. “Is it safe?” he asked. “For me, I mean.”
“In small quantities. I’ve been warned that humans shouldn’t drink too much, too quickly.”
“I don’t want to end up poisoned.”
“The effects are intoxicating, not deadly. Even if you do drink too much, the worst is a few unpleasant side-effects.”
So it was like alcohol for the wolves. Mason nodded, thoughts shifting to the food again. The smell was getting to him, and his stomach growled even louder than before. The manners his mother had taught him were the only things keeping him from digging in. Well, that and a healthy appreciation for Five’s status as the alpha and Mason’s uncertainty about what that might mean at the table.
When Five reached for the tray, Mason did the same.
Five caught Mason’s forearm. “Be patient.”
Mason scowled but dropped his hand to the table and watched as Five picked up what looked like a whole green bean glistening with a hint of some kind of sauce and turned in the seat just enough to face Mason. “Here.”
Mason started to take the green bean in his hand, but Five shook his head.
“Lean forward.”
For some reason, the first thought that popped into Mason’s mind at those words was the memory of last night in the bathtub. His face heated and he pushed the thought away. He leaned closer to the green bean, wondering what the hell Five had in mind.
“Open your mouth.”
Realization dawned, and Mason stared at that goddamned green bean, clasped delicately in Five’s long fingers.
“Submit,” Five said softly.
Mason felt the command into his bones. He shut up and opened his mouth.
Five allowed him to bite off half the bean, then fed him the other half.
Having someone feed him was a totally new experience for Mason. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked after another few bites.
“This?” Five tore a chunk of bread off the crunchy loaf and pressed the soft center to Mason’s bottom lip.
Mason nodded and ate.
“Submission is a gift. You should be respected for it and treated with as much care as I would treat one of my own people if I had chosen one of them as a mate. I won’t neglect my duties to you just because you’re human and you expect so little from your mates.”
“So you think our ways are inferior. You want respect for your ways, but you sure don’t give—”
“First you complain that we ask too much from mates, now you complain because we don’t treat you with as little respect as you treat each other.”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“I’m giving them back to you from my perspective.”
“Your perspective is—” Wrong was not the word he was looking for, even though that was the one that came immediately to mind, and he could see in Five’s eyes that was exactly what he’d expected Mason to finish with.
“Alien,” Mason said instead. “It’s so goddamned alien. I can’t figure you out.”
The tension in Five’s shoulders relaxed. “Then do not try. Accept me as I am.”
It was a platitude, pure and simple, but for some reason it hit Mason hard in the chest, and he wondered just how many times he’d thought the same thing when he was trying a little too hard to be different enough from Marcus that people would stop treating him as if he were just a copy of his brother.
Five offered more bread, then took his time with the beans, feeding each one to Mason with graceful movements that emphasized the length of his fingers. Mason found himself watching those fingers, and a few times even came close to brushing his lips against them. Every time Five pulled away before it could happen, Mason’s stomach tightened, and it felt a little too close to disappointment for his peace of mind.
Then a drip of buttery sauce plopped onto the back of Mason’s hand. Without much thought, he raised his hand to his mouth and sucked the sauce off his skin.
Five followed the motion with eyes that had gone so deep and dark that not even the ocean could match them.
Mason lowered his hand and cleared his throat. “Maybe some of the meat now?”
“Of course.”
Five rolled one of the thin slices and offered the end to Mason.
Mason ate, watching the subtle way Five’s eyes flickered over him, how his eyelids lowered when he breathed deeply, how he avoided those deep breaths whenever possible but seemed unable to resist for more than a couple of minutes at a time.
Mason swallowed the last bite his stomach could hold and raised his hand before Five could reach for another slice.
“I’m good.” He reached for the glass of water.
Five watched Mason empty the glass and return it to the table, his eyes tracking Mason with unsettling intensity.
Pretending a nonchalance he didn’t feel, Mason stretched out his legs, clasping his hands together over his belly. “Is it really that hard, sitting here next to me?”
Instead of answering, Five raised his buttery fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean.
Mason’s breath hitched and a small sound escaped his throat that made his face flush so fast he could feel his scalp tingling. All he could do was stare at the sight of those long fingers sliding between Five’s lips and remember how those lips felt wrapped around his cock.
Five lowered his hands to the table, spreading his fingers wide and letting his palms rest flat on the wood surface. “Sitting next to you isn’t hard.”
“Huh? Uh—” Mason cleared his throat. “Then what is it? Something’s wrong, I can tell that much.”
“I’ve enjoyed taking care of your needs, but your scent does make it difficult to concentrate.”
Mason glanced down at his clasped hands and his ragged thumbnails before looking up at Five. “What do I smell like to you? What is it that makes me so irresistible?”
“You smell rich and dark. Like the future… and the past. Of longing and sex.” Five’s fingers flexed against the table and a hint of dark claw peeked from under dark fingernails. “You smell like you belong to me.”
“Those aren’t smells.”
“You cannot understand.”
“I’m trying.”
A raised eyebrow greeted his statement.
“I am.”
“Try this.” Five pushed the third glass of liquid toward Mason. The drink sloshed gently at the rim but didn’t spill. “If you want to understand even a little of the fire of heat, drinking this will give you that.”
Mason looked askance at the drink. “You said it was intoxicating. You didn’t say anything about—”
“It will intoxicate you. It will arouse you. It will give you taste of the heat that burns in the blood of my people.”
“That doesn’t sound like something I want.” He was already half-aroused and so goddamned uncomfortable with it that he couldn’t even move for fear of giving it away. He refused—absolutely refused—to reach down and adjust himself, because then Five would know, and for some reason, letting that happen felt like the worst kind of submission.
He couldn’t let this wolf get into his head.
Five’s gaze was a little too knowing. “You said you were trying to understand.”
Mason stilled his twiddling thumbs and looked pointedly at Five. “I don’t like getting drunk. Never have. Drunks do stupid shit and I don’t like doing stupid shit unless I don’t have a choice.”
“You have a choice. I do not ask for your submission on this.”
Mason’s gaze flickered up. “So it’s not an order?”
“It isn’t.” Five reached for the glass.
Mason plopped forward, quickly gripping the top of the glass tight enough that the rim bit into the edges of his palm. “I haven’t decided.”
“Then decide now.”
“Is it…” Mason stared at the clear liquid. He’d seen the disappointment in Five’s eyes; he had a gut feeling Five would think less of him if he passed up this gift, and for some reason he couldn’t explain to himself, that bothered him. “You said it would arouse me. It’s going to make me want to have sex with you, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it probably will.”
“So it’s just a way to make sure I have a good time?”
“A good time?”
“When we fuck.” Mason rubbed his thumb along the side of the glass. “Since I’m just here because you wanted a mate.”
“If you don’t drink this, we won’t fuck this morning.”
Mason jerked his gaze up, locking it on Five. “Why not?”
“Are you disappointed?”
“What? No.” Mason released the glass and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why the fuck would I be disappointed?”
“You curse when you’re upset. You are disappointed. Denying it is foolish.” Five’s teeth flashed. “But so human.”
“Goddamn you.” Mason scraped the chair back and stood with a suddenness that made Five’s claws come out. Mason didn’t care. He reached for the drink and knocked back half of it with too much anger and too little thought.
Five’s hand came out, almost as if he wanted to stop Mason, but then he let his hand fall to the table again. “Foolish. A sip would have been more than enough.”
Mason set the glass down hard and liquid sloshed onto the table. He couldn’t breathe through the tight burn in his throat and the fire spreading through his veins.
“Fucking…” He choked on his wheezing gasp with a sudden cough and plopped down into the chair he’d left, hitting the seat so hard it jarred his spine.
“I did warn you.”
Mason blinked and curled his fingers into a fist. “Goddamn.”
The sweet fire burned through him faster than he could think. His eyes watered with the fierceness of the burn and the hair along his arms prickled like he was standing too close to an electric fence. For a moment, the world around him was an unreal wash of color before everything shifted into tight focus, the colors too bright, the sounds too sharp. He could hear the rasp of his every breath, feel the ghost of a breeze against his skin, and see into the depths of Five’s soul through his eyes.
It was amazing.
He might have laughed. He wasn’t sure.
Blood flowed into his cock and made him so hard he could almost feel the seams of fabric at his crotch straining against his flesh. Goddamn, he was suffocating. He adjusted himself and then couldn’t resist rubbing at his hard flesh through the worn denim.
He slid down in the chair, his socks sliding along the hardwood with ease, and his head fell back against the chair’s top slat with a dull thunk that echoed in his ears. “You weren’
t kidding. My God, I want your mouth on my cock. I can’t think about anything else.”
And he couldn’t—except that wasn’t true. Because the one thought that kept intruding was the thought of what might happen if he threw himself on the table and offered his ass to Five.
Would Five use his tongue on him again? Make him so desperate for something in his ass that he’d beg?
Maybe he wanted to beg. Maybe he’d like that. Maybe he’d beg Five to suck his cock or—or fuck him. Yes. He’d beg for that. He’d beg for anything if it meant satisfying the need welling up inside him.
Mason jolted at the sudden touch of a hand at his neck. He snapped his eyes open, not even having realized until that moment that he’d let them shut, and a harsh groan welled up out of his throat.
Five stood over him, his tall, lean body cradled right between Mason’s thighs.
Mason closed his legs around Five and reached for the waistband of Five’s trousers.
Five grasped Mason’s wrist, but Mason had two hands and he gave up pressing his hand to his cock to grab at the hem of Five’s t-shirt.
He shoved his hand underneath to feel warm flesh and the tickle of hair. “You feel so good. Touch me.”
“I am touching you.”
“Not there.” Mason grabbed Five’s hand. He tried to drag it forward but Five ended up grasping that wrist too and suddenly Mason couldn’t use either hand.
So he used his mouth. He leaned forward and bit at the bottom of Five’s t-shirt, dragging it up just enough for him to turn his face into the warm, soft skin of Five’s belly.
Five sucked in his breath and his fingers clenched on Mason’s wrists before he eased the pressure. “What do you want?”
“I want to kiss you.” He turned his head, pressing his mouth hard to Five’s skin. He bit down and felt the quiver of flesh against his nose. “Bite you. I bet you guys like it when we bite, huh?”
“It would be dangerous.” The words were a caution, but Mason heard the deep hunger in Five’s voice.
Mason let out a soft husk of a sound from deep in his throat and dragged his teeth across Five’s stomach.
Five reacted with startling speed. He hauled Mason up out of the chair. Their bodies slammed together. “You tempt me too much.”